Vali dipped his toes into the stream. He shuddered as if a bolt of electricity had gone through his body. For his feet tired, the feeling was magical. The cold waters felt like they had rejuvenating powers. He let out a content sigh. He had overshot his original destination and ended up finding the river before the group he was looking for. Frankly, he didn’t mind it.

Just as he had heard, the river made a border between the forest and the plains. The scenery was beautiful, the clearness of the water made Vali’s eyes shine in amazement. The deepest place Vali found was only two feet high. The shallowness of the water, combined with how gently it was moving made the bottom of the river visible. Around him, people drank from it and relaxed in it. Some even had bottles and buckets to carry it back. To where, Vali didn’t care. Even if it was for a moment, the sound of flowing water took all his worries away.

Something felt off to Vali. The divide seemed a bit unnatural to him. The transition from grassy plains that had no trees, to a lush forest was too sudden. As he got closer, the number of trees hadn’t gradually increased to become a forest as it was supposed to be. The verdant forest suddenly appeared, right after the 30-feet wide river.

The forest didn’t look anything like the nature parks he had seen. It was wild. The branches, laden with leaves vibrant green, covered almost all of the sky. The ground was filled with bushes and small saplings. Add to that the roots that peeked out of the ground, and the uneven ground, they made walking dangerous if not careful. Vali did not doubt that sight in there was dramatically reduced too. There were a lot of things a wild animal could hide behind.

Though apparently, that wasn’t enough of a disincentive for the desperate. Vali sighted several people going in and out. Most looked unnoteworthy to Vali as they carried nothing with them. Some had the occasional blunt or sharp weapon. And very rarely, they carried fruits, which Vali couldn’t identify because of the distance. Once, Vali even spotted someone carrying an animal that looked like a squirrel, albeit it was a lot bigger.

The clean, readily accessible river made thirst an easily solvable issue. The hunger wasn’t the same.

It was starting to affect Vali too. ‘I doubt the group I’m looking for is just gonna hand out food to me. Maybe I should go on a hike. I’m not in a hurry anyways.’ He thought about it while relaxing in the water. ‘Even if I stumble upon some wolves, I can handle myself. I didn’t get this spear for nothing.’ He made his decision.

He passed the shallow river easily and stepped onto the forested side. Before going any further, he took another look at the ground, and then to his feet. It didn’t look safe to walk with bare feet.

He still had the shoes he got from the first group he met when he woke up, but he couldn’t wear them. Not as they were now. Kneeling, he went to work. With one particularly sharp edge of his makeshift spear, he cut up the top of the shoes. ‘Aint no way this is going to be comfy, but better than messing up my soles.’ When he was done, the shoes looked horrendous.

His toes were sticking out of the front like little sausages, and most of the top part of his feet were left exposed to the elements. The laces barely held the shoe on his feet. Even then it was still better than what Vali had hoped for. “Good enough.” He mouthed off before heading into the forest.

With careful steps, he moved through the forest. Getting lost in the forest was not on his to-do list, so he didn’t move straight into the green. Instead, he danced on the border of it, going in and out. Just far enough to find his way back, but also enough to see what the forest offered.

Of course, the wild forest wasn’t generous. No bushes with berries, no fruit trees, and no wild animal to be caught. He found only people who decided to venture into the forest much like himself, and Vali decided to steer far away from them.

After a while, Vali was starting to get annoyed. ‘I’m wasting my time. Others probably already picked off all the food available in these shallows parts.’ He gave the weapon in his hands a good look and made his decision.

He swung the tool, leaving a line on the bark of the tree. The sharp metal tip had no trouble biting deep into the soft wood. Then he walked deeper, every few steps accompanied by the sound of metal beating wood. This kept going for almost an hour.

His little gamble was rewarded when he saw a flash of unusual color. Behind a tree close by, huge berries were hanging off of a waist-high bush. The plump, vibrant red berries made his mouth water. With renewed vigor and hungry eyes, he ran towards the food.

Just before touching his prize, a shout interrupted him, causing him to swivel around. It sounded pretty close, but not close enough to see the source. The visibility in the forest was horrendous.

Grasping his spear ever firmer, Vali raised it defensively, the pointy tip directed towards where the sound had come from. He stood there for a few painfully long seconds, the shouts getting fiercer, but not closer. He couldn’t make out what the people were shouting, thanks to the pained screams of one particularly loud person. But one word, ‘Wolf’, ringed clear to his ears.

The food he had been searching for the past hour was at the tip of his fingers. All he had to do was grab it, and walk back the way he came from. The said wolf wouldn’t even chase after him, since it already seemed to be busy with others.

Vali didn’t care about others’ lives. Whether they died to the wolf or not, he wasn’t concerned. He could sleep well no matter the consequence. Yet, Vali still hesitated. Old faces flashed across his mind. Faces of friends he no longer had. Good relationships, the feeling of having people he could trust. He had destroyed them all with his own hands. With his actions.

Now, he found himself presented with a chance to build something with his actions for once. He knew it was a selfish and wrong way of thinking. To save someone’s life, only for the possibility of making a friend? It was irrational. But Vali didn’t care. ‘I’m not throwing away this chance!’

He bolted off towards the commotion, dancing across the trees. His feet were tortured by the vegetation, scratching and smacking against the exposed parts. But Vali didn’t even register the pain. He got closer and closer to the sounds, his surroundings nothing but a blur. When he cornered one particularly thick tree, he found himself facing a wall.

A furry, angry wall.

Luckily, its eyes weren’t on Vali. Unluckily, he didn’t have enough time to stop himself. His reflexes kicking in, he managed to barely raise his hand in time to put the steel weapon between himself and the animal.

The wolf yelped in surprise at the unexpected impact to its ribs, stumbling. The two regained balance almost at the same time and turned to face each other.

‘What the hell kind of wolf is this?!’ Vali’s eyes widened in horror. The wolf was only a head shorter than him, even though it was standing on four legs.

He saw something move behind the wolf but didn’t dare to move his eyes away from the animal. Thankfully, he didn’t need to, as he recognized the voice that shouted his name.

“What the fuck are you doing here Vali?” Jonas shouted at him.

Vali was about to return the sentiments, but their reunion was cut short. The wolf growled at Vali, its huge teeth caked with fresh meat and blood. It sent a tremor through Vali, a dire promise of what was to come.